Front End Alignment

[Xavier70]

Another question, still working on getting my BJ7 back on the road. I put the car on the ground today. Appears the alignment is noticeably off. The RH tire is definitely toed out. LH reasonably straight. No adjustment left on the tie rod. New Moss tie rod ends, used the old tie rod. Any ideas?

 

[BobHaskell]

Have the steering arms swapped - side to side?

 

[Xavier70]

Don’t think so. I replaced the driver side steering arm (attached to steering box) and the steering lever attached to the swivel axle as they were both bent.

 

[Xavier70]

Also I’m pretty sure the car took a significant hit on the driver’s side. The outside bolts that attach the driver side shock had been replaced with larger bolts so I suspect the previous owner hit something hard enough to tear the LH shock off . He had to fix this but left the bent levers on the car. I replaced these when I rebuilt the suspension.

 

[BobHaskell]

Have a look at this thread. The Moss cross rod ends are not quite the same as original.

 

[Xavier70]

Will do. Thanks.

 

[Xavier70]

I have reviewed the info posted and concluded that I may have reversed the steering levers. Here are a couple of photos of my levers with the new moss tie rod ends removed. Hopefully you can see these well enuff to tell if I have them reversed.

 

[Xavier70]

Okay, I'm back on the front suspension issue. Here's a little more info on my front suspension issue (sorry, this might be a little wordy). As suggested by Bob Haskel I think I may have the wrong steering arms on my car. I found a thread from Steveg from March 2020 that identified the part numbers for the steering levers. Per this thread (the diagram) the steering lever on the RH side should be Pt No LB 6277, LH should be LB 6278. ( I think this is correct per Steveg post). Based on this info I checked the parts on my car now. On the RH side the number is definitely LB 6277, on the LH side the number is LB 627??, I can't decipher what is on the forging. The original lever on the LH side was bent so I replaced it with one I got from a friend. The original lever from the left side of the car is clearly marked LB 6277. When I replaced this lever I didn't know about the part numbers so I just went thru a bucket of levers my friend had and picked one that appeared to be the same (i.e. the one with Pt No LB 627??) I now suspect that I have LB6277 levers on LH and RH sides of the car which according to Steveg is wrong and is the cause of the toe in issue I see. A rough check of my "toe in", shows that the front side measurement about 1.25" greater than the rear, ouch! I have adjusted the tie rod as for as it will turn in the CW direction. I am going to try to get back to the bucket of levers and try to find a lever with Pt No LB 6278. In the meantime, looking for any suggestions to help me unravel this. Obviously, I can go to Moss and buy a LH lever (~$299) or Welch (~$150). Before I go there just looking for some info from more experienced restorers.

Also, Steveg mentioned a parts list on this site. I looked but couldn't find this. I'm a newbie so not really experienced at navigation on the Forum.

On a positive note I did drive the car as is sans front shroud and fenders, with the Hendrix Wire Wheel tags still attached to the wheels. Did great, looking forward to finishing this long term project. I'll post that video later so you can see a redneck from Georgia driving a partially restored BJ7.

Thanks Mucho
Skip

 

[Xavier70]

Per my last thread here’s my first drive of my Healey. Everything seems to work fine. Some fine tuning needed but I’m definitely happy. Been about 7 years coming.

 

[Xavier70]

Here’s a link to the video. Hope this works for those interested! Novice user indeed!!

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[red57]

Hi, You cannot run two right side steering arms - the tapered hole for the outer tie rod would be upside down and you could not insert the tie rod from the top. The steering arm must angle slightly upwards, and the tie rod end must insert from the top with the nut on the bottom.

If your problem is toe-out, then you probably need to shorten your cross rod because the tie rod ends currently available are too long.

See this link to an earlier thread - good read. The first pictures show the correct orientation of the steering arms and post #29 (2nd page) shows a picture of stock vs current tie rod ends. Toe in issues

 

[Xavier70]

Thanks. Earlier post has photo of my currently installed levers. 6277 on RH and 627? on LH. I’ll end up shortening the rod but wanted some added input.

 

[Xavier70]

Do my installed levers look right?

 

[bob hughes]

I would stongly recomend that you do not drive that car with a large toe out. When I first bought mine I did not realise that the car had a toe out and after some quick miles in the first week I noticed rapid wear on the front tires. Took the car around to the local tire shop and there was 1/2" toe out. Ouch!!



Bob

 

[Xavier70]

I don’t plan to drive it further. The video was. 2 minute, 300 yd spin primarily to make sure the Toyota transmission works. It did.